Aug
Android App Tips
We’ve heard some complaints about not being able to use the functionality of the Android application. The symptoms: You try to either update your destination or make a call, but when you submit your request by pressing a button, you get just an empty little box that appears for a while and then goes away.
We’ll have this fixed in the next version of the app, but here’s how you can deal with this now:
- Open your phone’s Settings.
- Go to “Application manager” or “Applications”.
- Find the “CallMeInChina” app and click on it.
- Press the “Clear Data” button.
Clearing the app’s data will require you to log on again, which will establish a new authentication token and allow you to use the app.
For the next version, we’ll also give you a way to log off. That’s a popular request.
Security Tip: On another note, check out the second arrow at the bottom of the screen. This is where you’ll see the app’s “Permissions” or what the CallMeInChina app is requesting that it be allowed to do. As you can see, we require the minimum set of permissions:
- We need to read your contacts so that when you make a callback, you can raise your contacts and pick a number.
- We need network access, of course, so your app can communicate with the CallMeInChina/EasyRinger service.
Be careful of other applications that are requesting more permissions than they need. Android is generally not as safe an operating system as Apple’s iOS, so you have to pay a little more attention. You could download an application that is actually trying to do something malicious. The permissions help you manage this. If you see that an app is requesting very little permissions, or just enough permissions to accomplish it’s mission, then you can likely place more trust in it. Watch out for apps that ask for all sorts of permissions that seem to be unrelated to the app’s purpose. When in doubt, do some online research, ask around, and try to determine the reputation of the app.